Near Valparaiso in Porter County, Indiana — The American Midwest (Great Lakes)
Limestone Quarry
Southern Indiana 1910
Photographed by Daniel Barriball, February 21, 2026
1. Limestone Quarry Marker
A small pocket of hills in Indiana yields some of the most beautiful and durable architectural limestone in the United States. Railroads helped build far-reaching markets; and entrepreneurs, craftsmen and workers met in prosperous quarry towns.
"Limestone is the best building material God ever put on earth. It doesn't rot, warp, peel, rust, shrink, crack, check or jump out of the wall. It just sits there." Bill McDonald, Indiana Limestone Institute, 1985
Indiana's Buried Treasure
Between the 1850s and the 1930s, railroads carried every piece of limestone leaving southern Indiana. In 1896 alone, more than 17,000 train car loads were shipped. By 1920, Indiana limestone made up 80% of all building stone used in the United States. Today's smaller industry ships the stone by truck.
Uniform color, large block size, and ease of cutting and carving: architects love this limestone. Layer by layer, workers remove it from enormous quarries up to 60 feet deep. The stone graces skyscrapers, mansions and monuments nationwide, including the Chicago Tribune Tower, the Pentagon and 35 state capitols.
Photo caption: This quarry (right) supplied limestone for the Empire State Building.
Erected 2011 by Taltree Arboretum
this page online
Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Architecture • Industry & Commerce • Natural Resources • Railroads & Streetcars. A significant historical year for this entry is 1985.
Location. 41° 26.703′ N, 87° 8.943′ W. Marker is near Valparaiso, Indiana, in Porter County. It can be reached from West 100 North west of Summerhill Drive, on the right when traveling east. This marker is part of the Railway Garden in Gabis Arboretum. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 450 W 100 N, Valparaiso IN 46385, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Regionally, this marker is in Northern Indiana. It is also in the American Midwest, on the Great Lakes, and in the Corn Belt. Globally, it is in North America, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World, and the Anglosphere. Historically, it finds itself in what was once the territory of the Mississippian Culture and also the Northwest Territory.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: City Center (a few steps from this marker); Jim Melton (a few steps from this marker); Small Town Life (a few steps from this marker); A Changing Land (within shouting distance of this marker); Lincoln's Funeral Train (within shouting distance of this marker); Logging (within shouting distance of this marker); Civil War (within shouting distance of this marker); Building the Railroad (within shouting distance of this marker). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Valparaiso.
More about this marker. Taltree Arboretum was renamed Gabis Arboretum after it was acquired by Purdue University Northwest in 2018.
Also see . . .
Photographed by Daniel Barriball, February 21, 2026
2. Limestone Quarry Marker in context
The Railway Garden spans two full acres and tells amazing stories of American railroads in the context of a large display garden using G-gauge miniature trains.(Submitted on February 24, 2026, by Daniel Barriball of Chesterton, Indiana.)
Photographed by Daniel Barriball, February 21, 2026
3. Miniature limestone quarry behind the marker
Credits. This page was last revised on February 26, 2026. It was originally submitted on February 24, 2026, by Daniel Barriball of Chesterton, Indiana. This page has been viewed 39 times since then. Photos: 1, 2, 3. submitted on February 24, 2026, by Daniel Barriball of Chesterton, Indiana. • Devry Becker Jones was the editor who published this page.
